well, there's shit gear = which is 16bit onboard soundcard, pc mics, etc.
low end gear = bedroom level
high end gear = full fledged studios.
professional level = $1'000'000 and above kind.
so my belief is , just cos you got poor gear, you can make it up with better more effort mixing. i can say "oh, my gear just like that and like that. thats why it doesn't sound as good as full studios with that and this" , then I get to know someone talented somewhere in the world with same level gear as I do and he kicks the ass of local studios with better gear ironically.
therefore, it's just a cheap excuse, not a valid reason, like "oh this guy's mixing is poor because he's born deaf, and he's just mixing via looking at the EQ analyzer" .